Review of Eisenstein in Guanajuato

Greenaway has been doing more forays into commercial oriented films of late and it is exactly those films that are the most problematic. There is just no excuse for ignoring Eisenstein's effusive fawning over and sycophant relationship to Joseph Stalin. Perhaps no artist in Soviet history was more complicit in actively betraying other artists. Eisenstein did not simply get cornered; he sought out other creative talent, especially in film, engaged them with the goal of destroying them, and dutifully reported them to the NKVD in order to send them into the nightmare and abyss. The man's main talent was manipulation and betrayal We also now know Jay Leyda, who was central to the Mexico project, was complicit. This is all a shame since the the cinematography of Guanajuato is quite good, the narrative structure flows very well, and it is a more approachable Greenaway than most. Still though, if you know the history of the subject, it is an overwhelmingly nauseating whitewash.